The European Union's security chief and former NATO secretary-general said on Wednesday he was confident the alliance would soon heal a damaging rift over its policy toward planning for a possible war with Iraq.
NATO is wrestling with one of the most damaging splits in its 54-year history, with France, Germany and Belgium refusing to back alliance preparations to assist fellow-member Turkey in the event of war with Iraq.
Javier Solana, the EU's security chief, told reporters after talks on North Korea in Seoul, the NATO split could be resolved by the time EU leaders meet in Brussels on Monday, although that was not certain. He said he was confident the problem would be solved because it was one of timing rather than substance.
France, Germany and Belgium refused Tuesday to drop their opposition to U.S.-backed plans to bolster Turkish defenses.
After two postponements for informal talks, ambassadors from the 19 NATO countries came together for a second day of emergency consultations Tuesday evening, only to adjourn 20 minutes later.
"Right now we do not have a conclusion," NATO spokesman Yves Brodeur said afterward. Consultations would continue through the night, he said, and the ambassadors would reconvene at 9:45 a.m. (0845 GMT) Wednesday. "It is a serious issue and everyone is committed to work hard to try to find a solution to it," he said.
Meanwhile, France circulated a plan to beef up U.N. weapons inspections to peacefully disarm Iraq. In a policy paper distributed Tuesday to U.N. Security Council members, France said it intends to implement its proposals to strengthen inspections in close consultation with U.N. inspectors, AP reported. It did not call for any kind of U.N. force to accompany inspectors — so a new resolution would not be needed.
The French plan calls for an immediate doubling of the number of inspectors and a quick tripling to make inspections more targeted and intrusive, thereby increasing their effectiveness.
France also called for significant reinforcement of security units, presumably U.N. security officers, to monitor suspicious sites; more Arabic translators; mobile customs teams to check goods entering Iraq; stepped-up aerial surveillance; a U.N. coordinator in Iraq and a new intelligence unit in New York.
"Our approach is based on the need to compel Iraq to cooperate by taking the peaceful approach of intrusive inspections," the paper said.
France said U.N. inspectors should draw up a complete list of unresolved disarmament issues in order of importance and set a time frame to find the answers.
"It is important to push the Iraqis up against a wall and not leave them any way out regarding the questions which they must answer and on which really active cooperation is expected," the paper said. "Such an exercise would also be useful in evaluating the nature of the threat Iraq represents." (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
